The present disclosure relates to print quality. More particularly, the disclosure relates to detection of a shipping insert so that a user can be notified as to its presence and instructed to remove it.
Toner-based printing devices, such as laser printers and photo copiers, normally include fusing systems that heat the toner to fuse it to the print media (e.g., paper). Such fusing systems typically comprise a fuser roller and a pressure roller that together form a nip through which print media pass. One or both of the rollers may be heated (either internally or externally) to provide the energy needed to fuse toner to the print media.
Often, the rollers of a fusing system are contained in a replaceable fusing unit such as that illustrated in FIGS. 1-3. As indicated in these figures, the fusing unit 100 can comprise an outer housing 102 in which the fuser roller 104 and the pressure roller 106 are disposed. One or both of the rollers 104, 106 may be provided with a resilient outer layer of material (e.g., a high-temperature polymeric material) that ensures good contact between the rollers so that a nip 108 may be formed between the rollers, as indicated in FIG. 3. In particular, one or more of the rollers 104, 106 is urged toward its opposing roller with a biasing mechanism that may include a biasing element, such as a spring 110, so that the resilient outer layer deforms at the contact point between the rollers to form the nip 108. With such a nip 108, good adhesion between the toner and the print media can be achieved, and the print media can be directed out from the fusing unit 100 through a slot 112 (FIG. 1) as a printed document.
Although the force provided by the biasing mechanism is necessary to achieve good fusing during printing, it can create permanent deformation of one or more of the rollers if the fusing system is not used for an extended period of time. For instance, if a given fusing unit 100 is not shipped to a customer for use for a relatively long period of time after its manufactured, permanent flats can be formed on one or more of the rollers that will adversely affect fusing.
To avoid permanent deformation of the rollers, fusing systems are often provided with a separation mechanism that decreases the force applied to one or more of the rollers. The separation mechanism may be a removable shim that is put into place before shipping and removed after shipping during the initial installation. This separation mechanism decreases pressure to eliminate a nip and prevent the roller from forming a permanent flat area. After the shim is removed, the appropriate pressure to create a nip will be applied.
In other arrangements, the separation mechanism may also be a lever which, may be placed in first position in which pressure is applied to the rollers and a nip is created, and may be placed in a second position in which pressure between the rollers is decreased and the nip is eliminated to prevent formation of a permanent flat area.
FIGS. 1-3 illustrate an example of such a mechanism. In this example, one more levers 114 can be provided that, as indicated in FIGS. 2 and 3, can be manipulated so as to reduce the force of the biasing mechanism (e.g., spring 110) applied to one or more of the rollers 104, 106. Specifically, the levers 114 can be toggled from a first position shown in FIG. 2 in which biasing force is reduced, to a second position shown in FIG. 3 in which the full biasing force is applied. With the provision of such a separation mechanism, the rollers 104, 106 are not urged together to the same degree as during normal operation to thereby avoid the formation of permanent flats on the rollers. In addition, the levers, where provided, can be used to separate the rollers when relatively thick print media (e.g., card stock, envelopes, etc.) are used.
Fusing quality will be reduced for most print media if firm contact is not made between the rollers of the fusing system. Shipping inserts may be provided along with the fuising system that serve as the shim itself or as a means to influence the user to place the rollers in firm contact with each other. For instance, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a shipping insert 116 can be attached to each lever 114 (only one insert illustrated in FIG. 1) that, when removed, automatically toggles the associated lever to the second position shown in FIG. 3. Such a shipping insert 116 may include a label 118 that comprises indicia that communicates the need to remove the shipping insert prior to use of the printing device.
Unfortunately, users occasionally do not properly use the separation mechanism. When a shim is used it may be left in place during the printing process. When a lever with a shipping insert attached is used, the customer may only remove the labels provided on the shipping inserts, as opposed to the entire inserts. For instance, such a user may merely cut the labels off from the shipping inserts with a scissors in thinking that the removal indication only pertains to the labels. In such a case, the separation mechanism may be left in a position such that the rollers are not urged together to the desired extent for most print media (e.g., the position shown in FIG. 2). If left in this orientation, adequate fusing will not be obtained except perhaps for relatively-thick print media. This, of course, leads to frustration for the user and unnecessary customer service requests.
From the foregoing, it can be appreciated that it would be desirable to have a system and method for detecting the presence of shipping inserts that, either directly or indirectly, cause separation of the fusing system rollers when not removed. With such detection, the user could be notified of this condition and instructed to remove the inserts.
The present disclosure relates to a system and method for detecting the presence of a shipping insert in a printing device. In one arrangement, the system and method pertain to determining if a print medium is detected at a fusing system exit of the printing device, and if a print medium is detected at the fusing system exit of the printing device, determining if a page count of the printing device is equal to zero, wherein if the page count is equal to zero it is confirmed that a shipping insert is present in the printing device.